The monolithic integration of gallium arsenide (GaAs) materials and devices with host substrates, such as silicon (Si), glass (SiO.sub.2), and polymers, will enable the fabrication of the next generation of integrated circuits, optical devices, and micromechanical devices, because it is known that In.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As.sub.y P.sub.1-y materials, where 0&lt;x&lt;1 and 0&lt;y&lt;1, and devices comprising the foregoing materials are ideal for electromagnetic communications applications.
A standard technique for GaAs on Si integration is heteroepitaxial growth, which is described in H. Choi J. Mattia, G. Turner, and B. Y. Tsauer, "Monolithic Integration of GaAs/AlGaAs LED and Si Driver Circuit", IEEE Electron Dev. Lett., vol.9, pp. 512-514, 1988. However, the crystal quality of this heteroepitaxial material is often inadequate for many optical applications.
An integration method which seeks to preserve the high material quality of lattice-matched growth is the epitaxial lift-off process developed by Bell Communications Research, Inc., (Bellcore), as described in E. Yablonovitch, T. J. Gmitter, J. P. Harbison, and R. Bhat, "Double Heterostructure GaAs/AlGaAs Thin Film Diode Lasers on Glass Substrates", IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett., 1, pp. 41-42, 1989. Essentially, a thin aluminum arsenide (AlAs) sacrificial layer is deposited, or grown, on a GaAs substrate, and then GaAs/AlGaAs device epitaxial layers are grown on top of the AlAs layer. The GaAs/AlGaAs lattice-matched epitaxial layers are separated from the growth substrate by selectively etching the AlAs sacrificial layer. These device layers are then mounted in a hybrid fashion onto a variety of host substrates. The device layers are of high quality and are currently being used for the integration of GaAs/AlGaAs materials with host substrates, such as Si, glass, lithium niobate, and polymers.
However, although the Bellcore technique yields high quality material, it has several problems, including the inability to align and selectively bond the devices. Moreover, there are difficulties in contacting and depositing material layers on both sides of the devices. Hence, at present, the Bellcore technique is inadequate for producing emitters, detectors, and modulators for three dimensional integrated circuits.